One Jacked Up Wonderland
by whitetigerofthenight321
Summary: Naruto was just lazing around, minding his own business, when he spots a hot guy dozing just around the corner. When Naruto follows him into a hole, he becomes trapped in a freak show world filled with, well, freaks. An Alice In Wonderland parody SasuNaru
1. Down, Down, Down

**Authors Notes: Hey all! This is a story I dreamed up one day and decided to write down. I made it forever ago and decided to come back to it. Now it's bigger and better than ever! (or at least it will be once I get all of the editing done -.-'). Anyways, hope you like it! Also, please review. I love the feedback! ^_^**

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"-And if you subtract the quotient and add-"

"Naruto! Pay attention!" Kushina squawked, interrupting her husband Minato's teaching.

"Huh?" Naruto asked, looking dazedly at his mother.

"Quit daydreaming! Your father is trying to teach you something."

"I'm tired of this stuff." Naruto whined, looking longingly at the long stretch of forest surrounding their backyard.

"Naruto-" his mother warned.

"It's alright Kushina; I was just reviewing what we've already discussed." Minato intervened calmly, "Let him go out for a little while."

Kushina huffed and started picking at the hem of her dress, but didn't argue. "Alright." she turned to Naruto, "Go on and play then." she said, a smile returning to her face.

Naruto snorted at his mother's wording. He just _knew_ she was mocking him, even if it didn't show on her face. Ignoring his impulse to roll his eyes he stood and brushed himself off, heading to his favorite spot.

"Be careful! And stay away from the pits!" Kushina shouted towards Naruto's retreating back.

"He'll be fine Kushina. He's nineteen after all." Minato said, placing a reassuring hand over hers. She squeezed it nervously, her eyes never leaving the spot in between the trees where Naruto had disappeared.

"I hope so." she murmured, worry edging her voice. Minato smiled and wrapped his arms around her. She had always been a little over protective of their only son Naruto, even now when he was practically a man. But that was just who she was. Minato chuckled to himself, remembering just how much of his wife's attitude was passed down to their son when he had requested to move out of their home when he was only sixteen. But alas, the law states that he must stay until he is married. The argument had led to Kushina's now over barring approach to their boy.

Kushina leaned her head on his shoulder, thinking about the exact same memory that made her so anxious. _I hope he's alright _she thought, shifting her violet eyes to the sky.

~*(&)*~

Naruto hiked through the dense forest, easily avoiding the occasional exposed root of a tree. He entered a clearing and stopped. In front of him lay a beautiful meadow, full of flowers and small animals. There was a river that ran right through the middle of the vast area, whose calm waters soothed him whenever he was stressed out or depressed about something or another. No one ever went this far into the forest, so he had the place all to himself.

Smiling broadly, he sauntered over to his favorite willow tree. He sat facing the brook, his back leaning against the rough bark of the tree. He sighed in contentment and closed his eyes, the river lulling him to sleep.

There was a rustling somewhere which effectively broke the peaceful silence Naruto had been craving. He sat up and scanned the trees lining the clearing, searching for what caused that noise. Finding nothing, he shrugged to himself and leaned his head once more against the weeping willow.

As soon as he had settled down again there was another noise, this time it seemed to come from behind him.

Irritated, Naruto stood up and peered around the tree trunk to see who dared disturb his relaxation time. He froze when he saw what, or in this case who, it was. Sitting there lounging against the tree was some guy around his age. His eyes were closed and he appeared to be deep in thought.

He was fairly pale, clad in dark jeans and a black form fitting long-sleeve shirt. He had impossibly black hair that stuck up in the back of his head, while his bangs hung strait down to frame his face. Feeling his gaze, the stranger opened his eyes, revealing deep ebony irises.

The unusual color of the other's eyes surprised Naruto. He had never seen such dark eyes filled with such intensity, even with the boredom that they conveyed. As his eyes roved over the pale toned body, Naruto felt like he had seen this guy before.

He ogled his face slowly, marveling at how flawless it seemed, until he locked eyes with the stranger.

"Like what you see?" he drawled, his smooth baritone voice sounding slightly annoyed. Naruto blushed and immediately shifted his gaze, scolding himself for starring so openly at a total stranger.

"What's the matter? Can't talk?" Naruto was spacing out, so he didn't hear a word he said until… "Dobe."

"What did you call me?" Naruto growled, glaring at the raven. He was positively seething. Nobody and I mean nobody, got away with calling an Uzumaki stupid. Even if the insult came from a strong, rugged, attractive…..

"I don't need to repeat myself." The other boy said with a smirk, completely interrupting Naruto's train of thought. Naruto blushed when he realized where his thoughts were leading him. _Damn you under used hormones!_ He swore in his mind, once again cursing his lack of self-control.

The raven stood up from his seat next to the tree and stared at the blue-eyed blonde in front of him, obviously amused by the blonde's discomfort.

Naruto growled, "Look you-"

"Sasuke."

Naruto blanched, "What?"

"Its my name idiot." The man replied patiently, as if he were talking to a child, which irked Naruto even more.

"What the hell is your problem?" Naruto continued, his annoyance heightened to a dangerous level, "I just met you and already your being a stupid bastard."

"I didn't hear you complaining earlier." he remarked, a smug smirk creeping on his face. Naruto flushed at his comment, his tan skin now resembling a tomato.

"Sh-Shut up!" he stuttered, cursing again when his voice shot up an octave higher than its normal tenor range. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose to calm himself. "Look, we got off on the wrong foot, so let's just start over."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted. Naruto scowled, but decided to let that one slide for now. He shoved his hand in Sasuke's personal space. Sasuke's eyebrow twitched, but hesitantly he took Naruto's hand in his.

"I'm Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki." he greeted, trying not to sound as annoyed as he felt.

"Hn." Sasuke mumbled, distracted by the long whisker like markings that lined Naruto's face. He brushed his free hand over one of the markings.

"When did you get these?" he asked, surprising them both.

"I was attacked by a fox a few years ago." he murmured, still trying to contemplate why this guy was touching his face, or even asking about him for that matter.

Sasuke didn't comment further. Instead, he stared into Naruto's ocean blue eyes, his thumb gently tracing the scares on Naruto's cheek. Naruto stared at him wide eyed, not really knowing how to act in this type of situation.

A loud ringing jolted them out of their trance. Naruto shook his head to clear his mind of the weird feelings stirring in his mind and moved away, suddenly aware of their close proximity.

Sighing, Sasuke pulled out his phone and silenced the alarm, putting it on vibrate. He turned back to the blonde.

Quirking his eyebrow, Sasuke stepped towards him, but Naruto backed away, afraid of what might happen if they got too close again. He didn't know what it was about this guy, but there was something about him that was somehow familiar and he found that just Sasuke's presence alone made him relax (though the close proximity did make him a little flustered). Whatever it was Naruto did not like it one bit.

"Dobe." Sasuke said, taking another step closer, but Naruto kept stepping back, until he was backed into a tree. Sasuke sighed and leaned over Naruto's smaller frame, "I have to go." he said gently.

"Go? Where?" Naruto wondered, feeling slightly panicked at the thought that he might not see Sasuke ever again. What was about this man that affected him so much? He was so confused.

"I'm sorry Naruto," he whispered in his ear, and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto froze, unable to move. Had Sasuke just disappeared right in front of him? He looked around the tree but the pale man was nowhere in sight. The only clue that Sasuke had been there at all was the trail of smoke – Oh wait.

Smacking his forehead for his stupidity, he followed the fading trail of smoke that lead back through the woods, hoping to find the pale man and get some answers.

After trotting through the forest for a while, he spotted Sasuke squatting next to what appeared to be a hole in one of the trees. Naruto hid behind a bush, not wanting to alert him of his presence.

Sasuke looked around cautiously before he crawled into the hole. Naruto blinked for a minute, and hesitantly stepped out of his hiding place.

"Sasuke?" he called softly, "You in there?" he asked, but there was no response. He edged closer to the hole, and poked his head in side of the tree.

"Hello?" he called again, but still no response. He crawled farther into the hole.

Suddenly, his hand slipped into a gap, making him loose his balance. He tumbled over the edge and he plummeted into a pit. He screeched in fear, afraid of the outcome that he could face. Down, down, down he fell into the darkness, until he could no longer see the light coming from the hollow of the tree.

Naruto squeezed his eyes shut, preparing for the impact he knew was coming.

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**Let me know what you think! Also, sorry to those of you who are following the story. The new chapter to this story will be up soon, I just want to get through all the editing first so that it flows better. Thanks for all your loyalty! :)**


	2. Da Hell?

**Authors Notes: Second edit up and running! Keep sending in those reviews and let me know what you like/dislike so I can make it better! Also, to those who have been supporting me to the beginning; YOU ARE AMAZING! Thanks for your continued loyalty and I will keep working to eventually finish this story for you all.**

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Naruto woke up a while later, wondering why his bed felt so hard and cold. And where were his soft sheets and comforter? Opening his eyes, he suddenly became very aware of the pain coursing through his body. Groaning, he sat up, cursing his throbbing headache. He looked around the room, trying to remember how he got there. A picture of the guy from earlier, floated into his consciousness. His heart skipped a beat when he remembered how close they had gotten.

Shaking his head to rid himself of his thoughts, he slowly stood up, wincing when he leaned on his right leg. Ignoring the smarting appendage, he walked around the small room he was in.

The room wasn't very large, but had a high ceiling. The walls were brown and upon further inspection he realized they were made of dirt. The floor was checkered orange and midnight blue (he made a mental note to install that into his room). There were three large oak doors that had old fashioned knobs and vines clinging to the slightly rotting wood.

Relieved, he sauntered over to the closest door and turned the knob. Nothing happened. Tilting his head in confusion, he tried again. Again, nothing happened. Shrugging his shoulders, he went to the next door, only to find that one was locked to. Ignoring his rising panic, he went to the third and final door, praying it would open.

Fate was conspiring against him today.

Frustrated, he huffed and crossed his arms, glaring at the evil doors. He scanned the room again, searching for another way out, when he heard a dark chuckling. The hair on the back of his neck rose, and he slowly turned around.

"Wh-Who's there?" he stuttered, wrinkling his nose at his cowardice.

"Those doors won't open." the voice said, chuckling again.

"Well no shit." he snapped, his previous fear forgotten.

"Careful kit." the voice warned, "I'm the only one here who can help you, so I would refrain from the snide comments if I were you…" there was a slurping noise.

Naruto raised his eyebrows, and cautiously walked over to where the voice was coming from. Squinting his eyes, he starred at the wall closely, wondering how the voice could come from a wall, when a stool appeared out of nowhere, lifting him off the ground. The wall started shaking slightly, making Naruto extremely nervous.

The soil of the walls shifted, forming what seemed to be a counter. More stools popped up, along with a kitchen behind the counter. When everything settled, Naruto blinked at the new formation surrounding him.

To say he was surprised would be an understatement, especially when a chef appeared behind the counter.

"What will you have?" the chef asked, as familiar aromas drifted to Naruto's attention from the kitchen. It almost smelled like…

"Oh my god, is that ramen?!" Naruto grinned happily, making the chef quirk an eyebrow.

"Yes.." the chef said carefully, "This is a ramen bar. What flavor would you like?"

"Pork please!"

"Alright.." the chef said warily, walking into the back room. Naruto smiled happily to himself, thinking about his precious ramen.

There was a low chuckle that made Naruto's hair stand on end, and he slowly turned. Two stools down, there was a rather large dark orange fox. The inside of its ears were black, and continued down in a line to its eyes, which were surrounded by black fur as well. It's nose was black along with its lips, which were smirking at him at the moment. It's nine tails were waving lazily behind it. It was about the same size as him, though it sat with all four paws under him on top of the stool.

"What the fuck are you? A fox?" Naruto blurted, unable to keep his voice at an acceptable level. Said fox winced at Naruto's noise level, but laugh just the same.

"I believe the phrase is, 'no shit'." Naruto scowled at the madly cackling fox, pissed that his words were twisted around like that.

"Shut up."

"Careful kit." the fox repeated his earlier warning, "I'm not the one you want to piss off."

"Whatever." Naruto growled at the giant fox's smirk. Naruto smiled suddenly, his bright blue eyes sparkling with mischief.

"I am ever so sorry miss, but I am ever so lost, could you please help me?" he asked in a sickly sweet tone, wiping the smirk right off of said 'madams' face.

"Brat! I am clearly no female." he lowered his ears and bared his teeth at the blonde.

"Really? Well golly gee, you certainly fooled me." Naruto said innocently, though the fox could hear the laughter in his voice. He growled loudly.

"Look human, I have little patients, so if you want my help, I suggest you shut that obnoxious mouth of yours up." Naruto's nose flared in anger, but froze when he heard the entire sentence.

"You can help me?" Naruto exclaimed with a smile that could melt ice caps. All his previous anger had evaporated from his consciousness. The fox sighed, then nodded his head. Naruto yelped (actually it was more like a squeal, but it be a cold day in hell before he admitted that) and actually hugged the fox, which promptly disappeared from his grasp.

Blinking, Naruto turned back to the stool he had been sitting at before, and found that it wasn't there. The ramen bar was gone to; leaving no evidence that is was even there at all. _Could this place get any weirder?_, he asked in his head, thoroughly creeped out.

He sighed in exasperation, wondering if he would ever get out of here, when he heard someone clear their throat. He spun around to find the fox sitting in the middle of the room, with a bottle of what looked like sake and a bowl of ramen. Wait a minute….

"Oh great, I'm starved!" Naruto shouted for joy, and immediately started scarfing the rather large bowl down like there was no tomorrow.

"Wait! Kit! STOP!" the fox hollered, alarmed at the rate in which the teenager was digesting the food. He promptly yanked the bowl from his clutches, ignoring the blondes animate protests.

"Hey! What did you-" he was interrupted by a strange tingling sensation in his belly. Confused, he starred at his stomach, the tingling sensation spreading throughout his body.

Naruto was about to ask the fox what was going on, when he noticed his clothes were getting looser and looser, to the point that they were practically parachutes surrounding his shrinking form. Alarmed, he began shouting for help, but was muffled by his clothes, which were now just one big ocean of cloth. Now in full out panic mode, Naruto struggled through the fabric until he had managed to wiggle out the sleeve of his bright orange t-shirt. Shakily, he raised his head to the enormous form of the fox.

"Damn it kit!" the fox swore, "Drink this." he said, pushing a tiny cup with his nose towards him. Eyeing it suspiciously, Naruto climbed up the side of the cup. Reaching the top, he cupped some of the liquid in his hands and sniffed it, wincing at the strong stench of alcohol. He poured it messily into his mouth, and waited.

Sure enough, the tingling sensation returned, and he felt his body stretch to its original form. Sighing with relief, he looked down, only to realize he was completely naked. He let out a yelp and scrambled for his clothes, stuttering curses through is beet red cheeks. The fox laughed, shaking his head at the sheer stupidity of this human.

"I gotta say kit, you're not exactly the brightest star in the night, ne?" he chuckled.

"Shut up you stupid perverted fox." Naruto snapped.

"I have a name you know." The fox grumbled, clearly annoyed.

Naruto blanched, "You do?"

"Yes." he said, rolling his eyes. "It's Kyuubi."

"Oh. Well, my name is Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki!" the blonde said, patting his chest with a closed fist.

"That's nice, but could you please put some pants on?" Naruto tilted his head cutely. Confused, he looked down to find that he had only managed to get his boxers on before he had been distracted again. Letting out a small eep, he quickly jumped into his jeans, Kyuubi laughing the entire time. Scowling through his blush, he scooped up his shirt and turned back towards the fox.

"So," he said awkwardly, "you said you could help me get back home?"

"No," he replied, Naruto growling in response, "I said that I would help you get out of this room, not here."

"Where's here?" Naruto asked, becoming wary.

"Wonderland."

"Wonder-who?" Naruto echoed, utterly confused.

Kyuubi sighed, "Wonderland. Before you start freaking out again-"

"I was not freaking out!"

"- You need to find the key to the door."

"What door?" Naruto asked, turning to look at the large oak doors.

"That door." Kyuubi replied, pointed behind him with one of his tails. Naruto turned and sure enough, there was a tiny door, barely the size of a watermelon.

"But how am I supposed to get through? It's so tiny." Naruto asked, tilting his head cutely.

"That's where the ramen comes in."

"Oh okay. Down the hatch!" Naruto said with a smile, about to guzzle down another huge bite of his favorite food.

"FOR THE LOVE OF HUMANITY KIT! CONTROL YOURSELF!" Kyuubi bellowed. Taking a few calming breathes, he continued. "Now, just go get the key from the shelf."

"What key- Oh." Naruto was asking, but stopped when he saw the newly formed shelf behind him. He walked over to it, muttering a few insults to the room.

"Damned psycho room and its fucking magic tricks."

He got to the shelf and searched for the key, but all that his fingers came up with were dust bunnies and a rubber band. Stuffing the rubber band in his pocket, he hopped up one of the shelves and began to climb. When he got to the top, he searched his perch. Finding nothing, he glanced around the room, still finding nothing.

"What the hell Kyuubi! You said it was up here!" Naruto whined towards the floor, but found that the fox wasn't there. "Kyuubi?" Naruto called quietly, searching for the missing fox. He frantically looked around the room, hoping to find the fox had just moved out of his line of vision. Seeing no sign of him, he slumped against the wall, wondering how the heck he was supposed to get out of here now.

"Dobe." a familiar baritone voice commented. Naruto froze from where he was at on the shelf, and slowly turned to look down at the figure who had spoken. When he saw him, his eyes lit up, and he smiled brightly. He immediately started climbing down but of course in his ever lacking grace, slipped and fell.

Closing his eyes, he braced himself for the impact that never came. He peaked through his eyelids to find Sasuke had caught him. Naruto blushed, remembering what had almost happened the last time they were this close.

"Idiot, be careful." Sasuke scolded. Naruto smiled sheepishly.

"Heh, sorry." he rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed by his clumsiness.

"Why did you follow me?" Sasuke asked, giving him a quizzical look. Naruto blanched, not really knowing the answer himself.

"Well-I um," he stuttered nervously, fidgeting with his hands, "I kind of, um… Wondered where you were going, so…-" if possible, Naruto blushed even harder, his skin now looking sun burnt.

"Idiot." Sasuke murmured, but his tone was more affectionate than insulting. His grip around the blonde tightened slightly, pulling him closer to his body. Naruto was trapped in his eyes; he couldn't pull himself away from the streaming emotions swimming in those deep pools of ebony.

"Sasuke?" he whispered, getting nervous. Broken out of his trance, Sasuke shook his head and placed Naruto back on the ground. Naruto pouted slightly at the loss of body heat.

"You need to get out of here." he stated, his affectionate tone gone. Naruto was slightly hurt by his sudden coldness, but didn't let it show.

"I know bastard! That's what I've been trying to do! I just can't find the damn key."

"Dobe." Sasuke grunted, smirking at the blonde teen.

"Teme!" Naruto glared. Good thing for Sasuke that looks couldn't kill; otherwise he'd be a pile of ashes.

Sasuke's smirk widened and he stepped closer. Naruto's eyes widened slightly, and he backed up until he ran into the shelf. Looking panicked Naruto squeezed his eyes shut, the close proximity to the other teen making him extremely uncomfortable.

"Naruto," he whispered in his ear, "the key's in your pocket." Sasuke reached his other hand down into Naruto's back pocket, and slowly pulled the key out. Naruto didn't think his cheeks would ever turn back to his normal olive skin tone if he blushed anymore.

"I-I could've gotten it myself." he stuttered, restraining his sudden urge to jump the raven.

"Hn." Sasuke said, dropping the key into his hand. He smirked at Naruto's flushed face, and ever so softly kissed his forehead. Smirking again, he pulled away from the blonde teen and promptly disappeared. Naruto stayed where he was, frozen by the raven's antics. _What the fuck_? he screeched in his head.

"Bastard, fucking has the nerve to leave after pulling something like that. God damn bastard." he muttered, utterly pissed at the raven.

Sighing out his frustration, he looked around the room. Finding the forgotten bowl of ramen, he sauntered over and carefully picked it up, not wanting to spill.

Cautiously this time, he carefully gathered a small amount of noodles, not wanting to repeat his mistake from earlier. Eyeing the lump of food suspiciously, he tentatively wrapped his lips around the food, hoping it would go right this time. He felt the familiar sensation throughout his body and gradually shrank down to the right size for the door. Looking down at himself, he sighed and searched the room for some new clothes, which of course magically appeared on the shelf.

Finishing quickly, he grabbed the key and shoved it into the door knob. Well, he thought, here goes nothing. He slowly pushed the door open, and what he saw behind the door was nothing short of amazing.


	3. Keys And Doors

**Author's Notes: Okay! Here's the new and improved chapter three! Let me know what you think! :)**

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"Wonder-who?" Naruto echoed, utterly confused.

Kyuubi sighed, "Wonderland. Before you start freaking out again-"

"I was not freaking out!"

"- You need to find the key to the door."

"What door?" Naruto asked, turning to look at the large oak doors.

"That door." Kyuubi replied, pointed behind him with one of his tails. Naruto turned and sure enough, there was a tiny door, barely the size of a watermelon.

"But how am I supposed to get through? It's so tiny." Naruto asked, tilting his head cutely.

"That's where the ramen comes in."

"Oh okay. Down the hatch!" Naruto said with a smile, about to guzzle down another huge bite of his favorite food.

"FOR THE LOVE OF HUMANITY KIT! CONTROL YOURSELF!" Kyuubi bellowed. Taking a few calming breathes, he continued. "Now, just go get the key from the shelf."

"What key- Oh." Naruto was asking, but stopped when he saw the newly formed shelf behind him. He walked over to it, muttering a few insults to the room.

"Damned psycho room and its fucking magic tricks."

He got to the shelf and searched for the key, but all that his fingers came up with were dust bunnies and a rubber band. Stuffing the rubber band in his pocket, he hopped up one of the shelves and began to climb. When he got to the top, he searched his perch. Finding nothing, he glanced around the room, still finding nothing.

"What the hell Kyuubi! You said it was up here!" Naruto whined towards the floor, but found that the fox wasn't there. "Kyuubi?" Naruto called quietly, searching for the missing fox. He frantically looked around the room, hoping to find the fox had just moved out of his line of vision. Seeing no sign of him, he slumped against the wall, wondering how the heck he was supposed to get out of here now.

"Dobe." a familiar baritone voice commented. Naruto froze from where he was at on the shelf, and slowly turned to look down at the figure who had spoken. When he saw him, his eyes lit up, and he smiled brightly. He immediately started climbing down but of course in his ever lacking grace, slipped and fell.

Closing his eyes, he braced himself for the impact that never came. He peaked through his eyelids to find Sasuke had caught him. Naruto blushed, remembering what had almost happened the last time they were this close.

"Idiot, be careful." Sasuke scolded. Naruto smiled sheepishly.

"Heh, sorry." he rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed by his clumsiness.

"Why did you follow me?" Sasuke asked, giving him a quizzical look. Naruto blanched, not really knowing the answer himself.

"Well-I um," he stuttered nervously, fidgeting with his hands, "I kind of, um… Wondered where you were going, so…-" if possible, Naruto blushed even harder, his skin now looking sun burnt.

"Idiot." Sasuke murmured, but his tone was more affectionate than insulting. His grip around the blonde tightened slightly, pulling him closer to his body. Naruto was trapped in his eyes; he couldn't pull himself away from the streaming emotions swimming in those deep pools of ebony.

"Sasuke?" he whispered, getting nervous. Broken out of his trance, Sasuke shook his head and placed Naruto back on the ground. Naruto pouted slightly at the loss of body heat.

"You need to get out of here." he stated, his affectionate tone gone. Naruto was slightly hurt by his sudden coldness, but didn't let it show.

"I know bastard! That's what I've been trying to do! I just can't find the damn key."

"Dobe." Sasuke grunted, smirking at the blonde teen.

"Teme!" Naruto glared. Good thing for Sasuke that looks couldn't kill; otherwise he'd be a pile of ashes.

Sasuke's smirk widened and he stepped closer. Naruto's eyes widened slightly, and he backed up until he ran into the shelf. Looking panicked Naruto squeezed his eyes shut, the close proximity to the other teen making him extremely uncomfortable.

Sasuke smiled then, not a smirk, but a real smile, and lifted Naruto's chin. He gently kissed his cheek. He pulled back and caressed his whiskered cheek again.

"Naruto," he whispered in his ear, "the key's in your pocket." Sasuke reached his other hand down into Naruto's back pocket, and slowly pulled the key out. Naruto didn't think his cheeks would ever turn back to his normal olive skin tone if he blushed anymore.

"I-I could've gotten it myself." he stuttered, restraining his sudden urge to jump the raven.

"Hn." Sasuke said, dropping the key into his hand. He smirked at Naruto's flushed face, and ever so softly kissed his forehead. Smirking again, he pulled away from the blonde teen and promptly disappeared. Naruto stayed where he was, frozen by the raven's antics. _What the fuck_? he screeched in his head.

"Bastard, fucking has the nerve to leave after pulling something like that. God damn bastard." he muttered, utterly pissed at the raven.

Sighing out his frustration, he looked around the room. Finding the forgotten bowl of ramen, he sauntered over and carefully picked it up, not wanting to spill.

Cautiously this time, he carefully gathered a small amount of noodles, not wanting to repeat his mistake from earlier. Eyeing the lump of food suspiciously, he tentatively wrapped his lips around the food, hoping it would go right this time. He felt the familiar sensation throughout his body and gradually shrank down to the right size for the door. Looking down at himself, he sighed and searched the room for some new clothes, which of course magically appeared on the shelf.

Finishing quickly, he grabbed the key and shoved it into the door knob. Well, he thought, here goes nothing. He slowly pushed the door open, and what he saw behind the door was nothing short of amazing.


	4. Uncontrolable Sobbing

**Author's Notes: Chapter four edits are here! Please review so I can keep improving the story. :)**

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Naruto blinked a few times, trying to get used to the blinding light, and examined the landscape surrounding him.

_What the hell?_ He practically screamed in his head. This place looked no different than the home he had left behind. What a rip-off! He pouted slightly but decided to continue on his way, hopefully to find home.

"So lover-boy, have you found Romeo yet?" a voice barked over his shoulder. Naruto gave out a yelp and spun around, only to find a certain smirking fox.

"Damn it Kyuubi! Don't do that!" he said, a hand on his chest to try and slow his fluttering heartbeat.

"Why? Were you expecting someone else? Someone with black hair perhaps?" Kyuubi asked, feigning innocence, though the knowing smirk said otherwise.

"No!" Naruto sputtered, his face positively burning with his embarrassment. Kyuubi gave him a knowing look.

"Whatever you say kit, whatever you say." he dismissed with a flick of his nine tails.

"Look, are you gonna help me or not?" Naruto demanded, his hands on his hips. Kyuubi gave him a wicked grin.

"Nope." he replied, his smirk nearly splitting his face.

"WHAT?" Naruto screeched, flabbergasted, "Then what the hell are you doing here?" he hollered, his eyebrow giving an annoyed twitch.

"I have nothing better to do, and frankly kid your mood swings are downright hilarious." he calmly stated, though his toothy grin gave him away. Naruto gave an indignant noise, something in-between a grunt and a screech. How the brat came up with such a noise was beyond the fox's comprehension.

"Alright, alright I'll help you out, jeez." he relented, his ears pressed against his skull from the blonde's volume level. "Just sail over to the other island, and you should find what you're looking for there." he pointed west with one of his lush red tails.

"And how the hell am I supposed to that? There's no-" but before Naruto could finish his loud complaint, the orange fox clamped his jaws around his leg, hard. He let out a pained yelp and keeled over, the fox still latched onto his leg.

"Kyuubi wha-" his sentence was choked off by another painful chomp, courtesy of Kyuubi. The pain taking over all his senses, he didn't notice when the fox sent a strange poison like substance through his fangs and into the freshly made wound. Naruto felt a warm current rush through his body that for some reason made his eyes water.

"Kyuubi." he whimpered, tears beginning to fall, "Why would you do that?" he sniffed, and soon his few tears turned into rapid streaks down his face, picking up speed with each passing second. Soon he was downright sobbing, his tears slowly but surely flooding the area. Naruto felt panicked, he didn't know why he was crying or how to stop it.

Becoming frightened, he looked over to where Kyuubi had been, only to find he had disappeared. New waves of sadness coursed through him, as the feeling of being completely and utterly alone really hit him. His heart ached, and for some reason he found himself thinking of a certain raven.

"Oi, dobe!"

Speak of the devil.

Naruto looked up and sure enough, there was the bastard in all his holier-than-thou glory, though this time his ego was supported by a boat. Said bastard held his hand out towards him, as if offering assistance. Naruto narrowed his watery eyes in suspicion.

"Are just gonna sit there and drown or are you gonna get on?" Sasuke growled impatiently, a scowl forming on his face. Hesitantly Naruto took the offered appendage and was hoisted up over the side of the boat.

Unfortunately, gravity was against him today as well, for as soon as his weight shifted over the ledge he toppled into the boat, and incidentally into Sasuke's lap. Sasuke blinked in surprise, then smirked.

"Can't resist me for very long, can you dobe?" he commented, a smug look on his face. Naruto blushed, and quickly got off of him, scrambling for a good comeback.

"Uh.. I-well, that is-" he stuttered, cursing his bad luck once again.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted, calming Naruto's nerves a little, "Would you stop that insistent crying? You're going to flood the boat." he added, subconsciously reaching his hand out to wipe one of stray tears rolling down the blonde's face. Naruto froze at the proximity of the other boy. As soon as those pale fingers came in contact with Naruto's skin the crying stopped to his relief.

Though the relief was short lived for soon after he had calmed down had the pain really set in. He clutched at his leg, forgetting all about the other boy's presence. A concerned frown took over the Uchiha's face, and he placed his hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"What's wrong, dobe?" he asked softly, his voice only slightly filled with the worry that was tugging at his heart. Sasuke gently removed Naruto's hands and he sucked in his breathe, not prepared for the mangled state the boy's leg was in.

Sasuke immediately scooped the blonde up, setting him on the floor of the boat with his back resting on the front bench. He crouched down over him, and started to remove the tattered remains of his pant leg. Naruto winced, but refused to make a sound. He'd had enough crying for one day thank you.

Carefully so as not to jar him, Sasuke reached Naruto's head to get to the first aid kit. He sat back down, holding some bandage wrappings and a brown bottle. Naruto eyed the bottle, having a funny feeling that whatever that stuff was it wasn't going to feel all that pleasant. He was proven correct when Sasuke dabbed a soaked wash cloth onto the bite marks. He gasped, the burning sensation only adding to the pain. Sasuke gave him an apologetic look, and then continued cleaning the wound. He quickly wrapped up the gashes, making sure to keep it tight enough, and then sat up to look over his handy work, checking to see if it was secure.

Deeming it good enough, he suddenly smirked, then without warning bent over and kissed the bandages softly, making the blonde blush yet again. He sat up and looked up at the blonde's face, his own becoming serious once more.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his brow knitting with slight concern.

"Well, yeah," he admitted, still blushing like mad, "You didn't have to-" Sasuke held up his hand to silence him.

"Yes, I did dobe." anger bubbled inside of him, his earlier pain completely forgotten.

"Who you calling dobe, bastard?" he hollered, pointing an accusing finger at him. Said raven merely smirked, wrapping a hand around Naruto's outstretched one, pulling him closer until he was inches from the blonde's ear.

"My dobe, dobe." he whispered lowly, his breath making Naruto shutter. Sasuke smirked and pulled back, making Naruto pout. Sasuke's smirk turned into a soft smile, the surprisingly handsome sight making Naruto feel those warm fuzzies his mother ranted about day and night. "You really turned out cute, you know that?" he murmured fondly, nuzzling his neck. Naruto blushed, but then caught the rest of his sentence.

"I am not cute!" he exclaimed, scowling. Sasuke just smiled again and kissed the tip of his nose.

"Whatever you say dobe." he said, smirking down at the fuming blonde. He leaned down until he was mere inches away from him.

"I am not cute damn it!" he argued, though not with as much vigor as before. Sasuke smirked, and leaned down towards those soft, rosy lips. Naruto held his breath, waiting for the raven to kiss him already when the boat stopped suddenly, jostling its passengers out of their trance.

Damn it! Naruto cursed in his head, a scowl forming on his face, just two more seconds and- he blushed, wondering why he was perfectly willing to let a perfect stranger take-

"Oi dobe, we're here. You can stop drooling now." Sasuke said, a smug look over taking his face.

-his first kiss? _Pfft!_ _Forget that! Stupid bastard, making me all confused_.

He sat up in the boat, ready to tell the bastard exactly what he thought about him, only to find he wasn't there at all. Thoroughly pissed, he stumbled out of the boat, hissing when he put some weight on his bad leg.

"Gah! Now what am I supposed to do? Stupid bastard, abandoning me…" he muttered, choosing to ignore the twinge of hurt in his chest. Letting out a frustrated sigh, he pulled himself up using the side of the boat to stand, though favoring his right leg, when-

"Who the hell are you?" a feminine voice hollered. Naruto jumped, and spun around, groaning at the new wave of pain washing over him from the sudden movement. He shook his head and looked up, wondering where the voice had come from.

"Hey! Hey you! What are you here for?" a blonde woman with light blue eyes, (Naruto assumed she was the one who had startled him earlier) hollered, her voice becoming annoyed. Naruto hobbled over to where she was, which was by a bonfire with four other people, three guys and one other girl.

One of the guys looked up (his high ponytail reminded Naruto of a pineapple) and groaned, "How troublesome."

Almost immediately, the other blonde, this one with dark, green eyes, smacked him on the back of the head, her eyebrow twitching with annoyance. The other two boys just sat in silence, one munching on his bag of chips, the other fiddling with what seemed to be a puppet of some sorts.

"Sorry about him," the green eyed blonde apologized, "He's just an ass."

"Your no moonlit walk on the beach either Temari." one of the boys muttered, still fiddling with his puppet.

"What was that Kankuro?" she growled, her tone promising instant death.

"Nothing." He replied, not bothering to look up at her.

Temari smirked. "That's what I thought." she turned her attention back to Naruto, "As I was saying before I was rudely-" she emphasized her point towards Kankuro's general direction, "- interrupted, my name is Temari Sabaku." she said, holding her hand out for Naruto to shake. "That lazy ass over there is Shikamaru Nara,-" she point to the guy with the pineapple shaped head, "That's Choji Akimichi over there,-" she pointed at the guy sitting next to Shikamaru, eating some chips, "That's Ino Yamanaka,-" she pointed to the other blonde girl, "and this numskull is my brother, Kankuro Sabaku." she bopped Kankuro on the top of the head. "And just who are you?"

"Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki." he replied, leaning on a nearby bolder for support. He really wished his leg would stop throbbing.

"Hey, are you ok?" Ino asked, walking over to where he was standing.

"He's injured," Shikamaru calmly stated, "and by the looks of it, we need to get him some medical attention, fast."

Naruto shot him a surprised look, and then directed his attention to his leg, which was already bleeding through the bandages Sasuke had applied. His stomach churned, and he suddenly felt light headed. He swayed a few times then passed out (Uzumakis _do not_faint.).

Ino caught him before he could hit the ground, and slung one of his arms over her shoulder. "Hey guys, I could use some help over here."

Shikamaru sighed and dragged Choji over to where she caught the twerp. Sighing again, he slung one of Naruto's arms over his shoulder and held him by the waist. Choji took the other side, and with Ino following, they headed off to the hospital.


	5. Hospitals and Explanations

**Authors Notes: Woot Woot! edit number 5! :)**

* * *

Naruto slowly opened his eyes, wincing at the bright light. He slowly sat up, and looked around the room.

It looked like any ordinary hospital room he had been in at home, with white walls, white sheets, white everything. Man, he hated hospitals.

The door swung opened, jarring him from his thoughts. A girl with bright pink hair and vibrant green eyes peeked through.

"Oh! Your awake! I better get Lady Tsunade. Don't move!" she warned, and promptly left the room. Naruto sighed and looked around the room, wondering if doctors would ever realize how boring the color white could be.

Before he could blink, the room suddenly changed colors. Naruto yelped in surprise and toppled over the bed, thankfully not landing on his injured leg.

The now dark wood door opened, and the pink haired girl from earlier walked in, followed by an older woman. She had blonde hair which was held in two low pony tails, and wise, amber eyes. She was definitely older than the other girl, of that Naruto could tell, though how much older he hadn't a clue. He assumed that this woman was the Tsunade the girl was talking about earlier.

"Jesus! I told you to stay put!" the pink girl chided. Naruto grinned sheepishly.

"Heh, sorry." he said, rubbing the back of his head. The pink haired girl sighed and with Tsunade's help they got him back onto the bed, which now had charcoal and orange sheets. "So grandma, am I going to live?" he asked, an impish grin over taking his face. Tsunade's brow twitched.

"Well brat, besides your lack of color coordination, you don't seem to have suffered any internal damage." Tsunade informed, eyeing the orange and red room with a smirk. Naruto pouted at the jab, but made no comments on it. "I've sewn up the gashes and most are already healed. The broken bones however are not so easy to fix, so we'll have to let them heal naturally. Until then, don't do anything stupid." she concluded, and she walked out of the room.

"Jeez, what's her problem?"

"You." the girl said, examining his leg with her bright green eyes.

"What? Me? What did I do?" he squawked.

"You insulted her, that's what you did you idiot." she glared at him. Naruto pouted at her, but she ignored him and just sighed. "Naruto, you can't go around insulting people, especially when they are the ruler of these lands."

"What?! You mean that old hag is a queen or something?"

"What? No you idiot, she's the Hokage."

"Oh." he breathed, not really knowing what to say. The girl just sighed and started removing his old bandages. "Hey, how did you know my name?" he asked, eager to change the subject. The girl just rolled his eyes and held up a clipboard that was hanging off of the bed post. Naruto squinted his eyes and saw a form with his name and information on it. "Oh."

She gave him an amused smile before placing the clip board back in its proper place.

"So how did this room change its looks?" he wondered aloud. Sakura blinked at the randomness of the question, but chose not to comment.

"All the buildings around here can tap into your chakra system, so whenever you have a room to yourself, it morphs into something that fits your personality." She replied simply, helping him off of the ground. _Though usually it only happens with experienced ninjas_ she added in her head, giving the blond an inquisitive look.

"Eh? What's chakra?" he asked, tilting his head cutely. Sakura laughed and ruffled his hair.

"It's a good thing you're cute." She replied, patting his head. Naruto growled and swatted her hand away.

"I am not cute!" he bellowed, nearly making her deaf.

"Alright, alright jeez. You don't need to shout. This is a hospital after all." she reprimanded. Naruto just rolled his eyes and untangled himself from the now chocolate brown sheets.

"So can I go now, uh…" he trailed off, realizing that he didn't know her name.

"It's Sakura. Sakura Haruno." she replied, a smile warming her features. "And yes, you can go. Just be careful, will you?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." he remarked, this time dodging the upcoming fist aimed for his skull, courtesy of Sakura. He changed into his street close, hobbled out the door and, with the help of Sakura, started their slow trek out of the hospital. Naruto looked around, admiring the different designs engraved on some of the wooden doors.

The hallway opened to a large room, filled to the brim with wounded and dying people. Naruto winced and looked down, not wanting to see their suffering.

"What happened to all of them?" he asked, not looking up from the floor tiles, noticing that they flashed gold and sky blue as he stepped on each one.

"They were wounded in battle." she replied sadly, the tiles under her feet going from a soft rosy pink and yellow to a more somber shade of maroon and red.

"Battle? Is there a war going on?" Naruto asked, finally looking up and facing her.

"Yes, and a very bloody one at that." her face took on a pained look, "A while back, there was a ruler of a village called Otogaukure. His name was Orochimaru. He founded the village years ago, long before I was born, after he defected from our village, bringing several others from multiple villages along with him. Though a cruel person at heart, he isolated his village from the rest of this world, feeling that his grotesque experiments were far more important than life outside the village. Ever since its creation, Orochimaru has been recruiting people to serve as his body cell, so that he could become immortal and gain the powers of the previous person had." Sakura grimaced, then waited for Naruto to settle his stomach contents before continuing, "Four years ago, one of our village's top academy students defected to join Orochimaru, who promised him the power that he knew he needed."

"Who was it?" Naruto asked, absorbed in the story.

"Sasuke Uchiha." she replied, her eyes filled with past anguish. Naruto's stomach churned again, his heart being tugged with it. The both of them sat on one of the benches in the waiting area, so Naruto could rest for a minute.

"Most people our age at the time didn't know much about Orochimaru, but what we did know was that he left the village for power, and gained plenty of it. He needed another young body so he could use his soul transfer jutsu, and unfortunately, Sasuke was the perfect candidate. About three years later when the soul transfer was ready commence, something happened. Nobody knows what happened that day, only that someone had managed to kill Orochimaru. After his death, a group of dangerous defected ninjas called the Akatsuki took over the village, and have used it's people and weapons to take over other neighboring villages. Now, they are trying to take over our village, and though it's been a year since the first attack, I don't know how much longer we can hold out against their powers." Sakura finished, her voice weakening at the thought.

"But I don't understand. Why would they take over a village, then attack the other villages surrounding that village?"

"Because they are after power." she said simply.

"But why attack a village to get it? It doesn't make any sense." Naruto rubbed his forehead in frustration.

"I don't know, but whatever they're after, it will destroy this village, and others if we can't stop them." she replied, her eyes downcast. She took a deep breath and calmed herself. "Well, anyway, we need to get you somewhere safe, until you're ready." she said, and motioned for one of the masked guards at the door to escort him.

"Until I'm ready? Ready for what?" he asked over his shoulder as he was leaving.

"I don't know," she admitted, "But whatever it is, be ready for it." she said, giving him a reassuring pat on the back. She waved goodbye and left, the tiles beneath her returning to their brighter, rosy pink and yellow. Naruto turned to the guard that was supposed to escort him out, and sighed.

"Well," he said, feeling awkward, "shall we go?"

The masked man didn't speak, but nodded in response. Naruto sighed again, knowing that this was going to be a long trip.


	6. Greetings Earthling! Youth Has Come!

**Author's Notes: Redo complete! :) I decided to combine the old chapter six and seven because I feel that it flows a lot better when they are one unit rather than two. Anyways, let me know what you think! ^_^**

* * *

They walked in silence. Well, the guard walked, Naruto hobbled.

Naruto sighed for the umpteenth time today, resigned to just studying his guide. Again. They had been traveling for only fifteen minutes or so and already Naruto was annoyed, and the guy hadn't even spoken a word to him! What the hell was his problem? Naruto wanted to say something, and was definitely angry enough to cause a scene, but when he looked up at that mask to speak his mind, the words died in his throat. He didn't know what it was about this guy, but whatever it was, it reeked of power. He had a feeling that the ninja wasn't the type to be merciful on anyone. With this in mind, he decided to keep his mouth shut for once.

His bright blue eyes roved over the white mask, noting once again that the red markings made it look like a wolf of some kind, and his armor made Naruto believe that he was a high ranked ninja of some sort. He knew for a fact that his guide was a male, but wasn't so sure about his age. Maybe if he could see his face-

"Dobe, you really need to work on being discreet." a familiar voice said.

"Dobe? Who you calling dobe you-" he bellowed, but calmed when he recognized the ninja's voice. "-Sasuke?"

"Yes, dobe." he sighed, nodding his head. Naruto felt relieved, but it was short lived when he remembered his conversation with Sakura.

"You fucking asshole!" Naruto hollered and without warning, threw a punch towards his face, but Sasuke caught it before it could reach its target.

"What the fuck dobe?" Sasuke growled, dodging a kick intended for his nether regions.

"You traitor!" he spat, throwing another punch at the face, "How could you betray your village like that?"

"Naruto, that was years ago!" he blocked the punch again.

"I don't care!" Naruto bellowed, finally landing a punch on the raven's face. The mask flew off, showing the pale face that lay underneath. Sasuke growled and gripped Naruto's arm, pulling him towards his body to restrain him.

"Listen dobe, I did betray the village, but I was just a kid, I didn't realize what I was getting myself into. When I realized what Orochimaru planned to do, I formed a plan to escape. As soon as he tried to transfer his soul into my body, I fought him, and won. He died from his soul being separated from a cell for too long. I came back to the village, and was reinstated." Naruto relaxed, no longer bent on beating the shit out of the Uchiha. Sasuke let him go.

"Reinstated? But Sakura didn't say-" he said, confused. He turned to face him.

"Of course she didn't dobe."

"But why would she lie?"

"Because like most of the villagers, she still resents me for leaving in the first place."

Naruto bit his lip, mowing it over in his mind. "So, you're not a traitor?"

"I'm now an Anbu, warrior for the Hokage, protector of all of Wonderland, so no, I am no longer a traitor." Sasuke replied calmly.

Naruto hesitated, not sure if he should ask the question that was nagging him in the back of his mind. Sasuke beat him to it.

"You want to know why I left, don't you?" he inquired. Naruto nodded his head, waiting for him to elaborate. Sasuke sighed.

"For years I wanted to gain power, so I could kill someone and avenge my clan. I wanted it so bad, I was killing myself in my training so that I would be strong enough to face him. Orochimaru knew this, and took advantage of it. He marked me with a curse mark, and planted ideas in my head." Sasuke turned his head and pulled the collar of his shirt down so Naruto could see the faint scar that still remained on his neck.

"With this curse mark, he poisoned my mind with ill thoughts of this village and it's people, until I couldn't stand it any longer." he said, his eyes down cast in shame, "And I left the village."

Naruto was silent, not knowing what to say. Cautiously, he approached Sasuke, who didn't move from his spot. He stood next to him for a moment, staring at him. Sasuke starred right back, but made no move to stop him, so Naruto stepped closer. He hesitated, then slowly brought his hand up, and brushed his fingertips over the scar marking Sasuke's pale skin, noticing the three distinct bumps that remained of the cursed seal.

Naruto looked back up to meet Sasuke's gaze, and removed his hand from Sasuke's skin, but was stopped by another hand. He blinked at the other appendage, then looked back at Sasuke questioningly. Sasuke just held his gaze, and laced his fingers through Naruto's. He wrapped his other arm ever so slowly around Naruto's waist, pulling him closer. Naruto placed his hand on his chest, but he didn't push away. They starred at each other, not moving.

Slowly, Sasuke leaned his head down. Naruto froze, not knowing what he should do. Their lips were so close, Naruto could feel Sasuke's breath on his. He shuddered in anticipation, and closed his eyes, waiting to feel their lips meet.

"I don't believe the Hokage's orders included any form of molesting, Sasuke." a male voice lazily drawled through the tree branches.

"Stay out of this Kakashi." Sasuke growled, turning in the direction the voice was coming from. Naruto blinked for a minute, his mind clearing enough to realize what had just happened. He immediately turned bright red, and hid his face in Sasuke's chest in embracement (he still had yet to figure out why he was acting like a girl, but he was too embarrassed to think straight at the moment.)

A man jumped down into the clearing they were in, revealing himself. He had long hair that seemed to defy gravity. It was silvery gray in color, though the man looked to be no more than his thirties. He had on a green vest and a headband, which was slanted over his left eye. A mask covered the rest of his face, leaving the only his right eye visible to others.

"Ah, and of course you pick the chosen one of all people. I would expect nothing less from you, Sasuke." Kakashi continued as if Sasuke had not even spoken. Naruto poked his head out from Sasuke's chest to get a better look. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you will be in if the Hokage found out that you were assaulting-"

"Hey! Sasuke wasn't doing anything wrong! If anything, I'm the one who initiated it this time!" Naruto hollered, thoroughly pissed that this perfect stranger would accuse Sasuke of such a thing.

"Oh really? Well then, if you were looking for some action, you went to the wrong place son." He retorted, 'subtly' indicating himself. Naruto glared at him, though his face betrayed his embarrassment. Sasuke tightened his hold around Naruto's waist protectively.

"Back off. You know as well as I that he is not like that in any way." Sasuke growled, his eyes beginning to turn red.

"No use wasting your Sharingan on this Sasuke, I already know." Kakashi responded lightly, a smile overtaking his face. Well, you assumed he was smiling because his one visible eye was currently closed in the shape of an upside down 'u'.

"Don't torture someone who is unused to your antics Kakashi." another voice said, this one also male. Sasuke relaxed, his face showing slight warmth, though he did not smile, while Kakashi seemed ecstatic and launched himself through the trees at the voice. He leaped back into the clearing not a moment later, but this time a tan brunette man was being held captive in his arms.

"Kakashi, put me down!" The brunette exclaimed, struggling against the other man.

"But Iruka, I haven't seen you all day, and I've been so lonely…" Kakashi whined, nibbling on his ear.

"And you will continue to be alone if you don't put me down this instant!" Iruka screeched, a blush creeping on his face. Kakashi immediately set him down, feigning terror. Iruka just rolled his eyes. He then looked over at Sasuke and the blonde boy in his arms.

"Oh I'm so sorry! How rude of me! I should've introduced myself, my name is Iruka Umino." he said, holding out a hand. Naruto looked at his hand for a minute, then hesitantly pulled away from Sasuke's warmth to reach out and shake the man's hand.

"I'm Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki." he said, his male confidence returning, and a wide grin extending across his face.

"Nice to finally meet you Naruto." Iruka said, smiling warmly. "Now then, shall we go?"

"Go? Go where?" Naruto asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"To see the Hokage."

"What! What for?" he said, all be it a little too loudly.

"To make sure you're the child of the prophecy." Iruka said simply.

"What are you talking about? I'm only sixteen!" Naruto hollered, looking beyond startled now. Sasuke slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Shh! Not so loud dobe!" Sasuke whispered urgently in his ear.

"Who you calling dobe, teme?" he bellowed at the top of his lungs, ripping the hand from his face.

"You dobe! Now quiet down before-"

"Oh wondrous friends! The fountain of youth smiles upon us today!" a booming voice said from the tree tops.

"Too late." Kakashi groaned. Iruka smacked his forehead in irritation.

There was a flash of green- two flashes- and there stood two men, one in his thirties, the other seeming to be a eighteen year old clone of the older man, and both warring green jump suits and bright orange leg warmers. Before the others could move or say anything, the two green males struck a pose, their smiles far too wide to be considered normal.

To say Naruto was surprised would be an understatement. He was fucking terrified.

"Who the fuck are they?" Naruto hollered, hiding behind Sasuke. _Screw my man pride, these guys are messed up! _ he screeched in his head. Before Sasuke could elaborate however, the older male stepped forward.

"Who are we? Why we are the green beasts of Konoha."

"The most youthful ninja's in all of Wonderland!" the younger boy exclaimed, matching his elder's enthusiasm.

"I am Gai! And this is Lee!" the older male, Gai, exclaimed, his voice not changing from its loud volume. Lee suddenly burst into tears. "Why Lee! My youthful counterpart, what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry Gai sensei, but it's all just so youthful!" Lee wailed, tears pouring out of his humungous eyes.

"Lee!" Gai said, patting Lee on the shoulder. Tears began pouring out of Gai's eyes as well. "Sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Sensei!" Lee hollered. They hugged each other and bawled about youth. Kakashi and Iruka face palmed. Naruto came out from behind Sasuke and starred.

"What is wrong with these two?" Naruto asked in bewilderment.

"They are ex-ninja's, guardians of the Hokage once. In battle they were abducted by the Akatsuki, who tortured them to retrieve secret information about our village. Neither one of them gave up any information, but at the price of their sanity. As soon as they were released from imprisonment, they cut their hair with bowls and started preaching to everyone about youth." Sasuke spoke in Naruto's ear, his tone hushed so the others wouldn't hear. Naruto looked at the crying pair, and immediately felt guilty about what he had originally thought of the two men in front of him.

"Will they ever recover?" Naruto asked quietly.

"I'm afraid not." Sasuke whispered back. Naruto felt pity for the two, who were currently preaching to Kakashi and Iruka about the methods of youth. Gai moved closer to Iruka, who was currently using Kakashi as a shield. Kakashi scooped Iruka up in his arms bellowing about where youth should keep his hands and ran off, the green beasts of Konoha following in hot pursuit.

"That is quite possibly the strangest pair of people I have ever met in my life." Naruto stated, shaking his head in amazement. Sasuke grunted in agreement, and lead Naruto in the other direction.

"Come on dobe, let's go before they get back." Naruto shuddered at the thought, and followed him out of the clearing. Unfortunately for him, the green-clad ex ninjas were the least of Naruto's worries.


	7. Ouch, Pain, Hurt, Owwwwwwww

**Author's Notes: Once again I've decided to combine two chapters! Let me know what you think. ^_^**

* * *

Naruto leaned against a tree, panting heavily. For some stupid reason his lungs decided that this would be the perfect time to malfunction, and his rapidly beating heart wasn't helping. Ignoring the pain, he tried to keep walking but someone stopped him.

"Dobe, sit down and rest." Sasuke commanded and for the sixth time pushed the stubborn blonde down.

"But Sasuke, I'm not tired." Naruto replied stubbornly, though if he was truly being honest with himself, he was exhausted. His leg suddenly pulsed, sending a shock wave of pain throughout his entire body. Naruto groaned and bent over his leg, unintentionally resting his forehead onto Sasuke's chest.

"Naruto, you are a horrible liar." Sasuke said with a sigh, reaching into his bag for the extra bandages that Sakura had packed and set to work. He rolled Naruto's pant leg up and began cutting off the old bandages. Naruto moaned when he felt Sasuke's fingers brush along his thigh, gripping the bark of the tree he was leaning against.

His eyes went wide and he slapped his hand over his mouth, turning bright red. _What is wrong with me?_ Naruto thought, feeling desire pool in a very, very embarrassing place. He felt itchy all over his body and began squirming under Sasuke's hand.

"Dobe, hold still so I can re-apply the bandages." Sasuke grunted, lifting his head to glare at the blond. He froze when he saw the state that Naruto was in. He was panting heavily, and had already broken out into a cold sweat. Sasuke held a hand up to his forehead, only to yank it away from Naruto's smoldering skin. "Naruto, what's wrong?" Naruto moaned again, closing his eyes as his entire body began to quiver. Sasuke sat up and placed his hands on each side of Naruto's face.

"Naruto, Naruto look at me." Sasuke said, keeping his voice cool and calm, "can you hear me? If you can, try to open your eyes." Naruto peeled his eyes open for a moment, but then a new wave of pain broke out throughout his body and he squeezed them shut once more. Sasuke cursed and pulled himself away from the blonde. He quickly burned a circle in the dead brush, and pulled out one of his daggers. He sliced his hand open and began drawing the symbols needed for the summoning portal. He muttered a few incantations and then wrote names in the center. Soon there was a pillar of light and out of it came Kakashi, Shizune, and Tsunade.

Tsunade glared at the Uchiha and was about to rip him a new one for interrupting her work when she heard someone cry out in pain. She spun around and saw Naruto lying on the ground curled in a ball, clutching his injured leg. Sasuke panicked and hurried over to the blonde, scooping him into his lap and tried to comfort him. Both Kakashi and Tsunade raised their eyebrows but said nothing and approached the suffering blond.

"What the hell happened?" Tsunade barked, pulling out her tools from her medicine bag.

"We had to stop for a bit because his leg was hurting him, but when I went to change his bandages he started shaking." Sasuke said calmly, though on the inside he was anything but.

"Were there any other symptoms?" she asked, immediately going into doctor mode.

"He has been convulsing at random increments and has been feverish for at least ten minutes now." Sasuke replied. Naruto let out a low whimper and Sasuke tightened his hold him, rubbing small circles into his back, murmuring softly.

"Has he been responding to you at all?" she asked, checking his pulse and gave Shizune the number, which she quickly wrote down.

"He hasn't spoken but when I asked him to look at me he opened his eyes." Sasuke replied, dabbing the dampened clothe Tsunade handed him onto Naruto's forehead. Naruto hissed as the cool clothe touched his heated skin but said nothing more.

"Good, so he can still respond." Tsunade said, quickly finishing up her check on his blood pressure. "Naruto, can you hear me? Naruto, you need to tell us what kind of animal bit you, so we can help you feel better." She said, checking his eyes for any lax in response. Naruto groaned and tried to speak, but a new wash of pain ripped through his body making him scream and thrash.

"Shit! Kakashi, keep his legs down, Sasuke, keep holding onto his torso, and make sure his arms stay put." Tsunade ordered. Both nodded and Sasuke turned Naruto so that he was lying down, and leaned over his torso to hold his arms, while Kakashi held both of his feet down. "Naruto, Naruto you need to answer my question okay? Can you speak to us?" Tsunade spoke her voice soothing but firm. Naruto moaned and struggled for a minute then stilled, whimpering in pain. He opened his eyes and looked up to see Sasuke.

"Sasuke" Naruto murmured, tears falling freely down his face.

"I'm here." He spoke softly, whipping the tears away with.

"I-it hurts so b-bad." He panted, wincing every now and then when his body would twitch and convulse.

"Shhhh." Sasuke shushed him, running his hands through golden locks. Naruto whimpered again and was trying to stop the tears, but failed miserably. "Naruto, what bit you before?" Sasuke murmured, massaging soothing circles onto the blonde's scalp.

"I don't know." He forced out, wincing when his headache began pounding again. "I-it looked like a fox but it was w-weird."

"What do you mean?" Tsunade inquired gently, examining his leg wound as she spoke.

"It had more tales, an-and it was bigger.. His name was Kyu- " his sentence was cut off when he suddenly screamed out in pain and began thrashing again, his free hand clawing at Sasuke's back. Sasuke winced but didn't complain.

"Do something!" he shouted desperately. Tsunade just looked at him gravely.

"I can't. The wound he has somehow came from the nine tailed fox." She replied sadly, "I can give him something for the pain, but that's about all I can do." She said, pulling a syringe out of her bag. "Now Naruto this is gonna sting a little bit." She warned out of habit.

"C-Can't be as b-bad as thi-this." Naruto wheezed, smiling weakly. Sasuke shook his head.

"Dobe." He whispered, but smiled softly in return.

"Teme." Naruto murmured, and then everything went black.

~*(&)*~

Naruto twitched, feeling his body slowly start waking up. He went to open his eyes when he heard the voices.

"How is he?" A voice, Sasuke's, spoke.

"He's stable. His vitals have all calmed down, so now he's just resting at the moment." another voice, this time female, answered. Naruto recognized it as Tsunade.

"And his tox reports?" Sasuke questioned with what Naruto could only describe as worry edging his voice, but then again, he couldn't be sure.

"Completely clean. Whatever Kyuubi sent through his system is long gone." Tsunade said. Naruto heard the clicking of her shoes on the tiled floor. There was some papers ruffled, "I can't say this is completely over, but for now it seems to be dormant. However, we need to keep a close watch on him. I suggest that..." she kept talking, but her voice became fuzzy, and Naruto fell asleep once more.

~*(&)*~

Naruto woke up again, but this time in a different place. He opened his eyes, only to squeeze them back shut against the offensively bright light. He heard a shuffling and through his eyelids he saw the light dim. He chanced another peek and found that the light was much more bearable. Unfortunately, that comfort was short lived.

He groaned in pain and felt a wave of nausea hit him at full force. He felt someone quickly shove a bowl in between his legs just in time. As he heaved, he felt someone rubbing his back gently, as if to comfort him.

When he was done, he felt a damp wash cloth being wiped across his face, cleaning it, and felt himself being laid back down. He slowly opened his eyes again and saw the last person he expected to be there.

"Sasuke?" he asked, his voice raspy from being sick, "What are you doing here?"

"Dobe, this is my house." Sasuke replied, though he didn't seem to be annoyed in the slightest. He held Naruto up for a second and adjusted his pillows so he could sit up a bit, and pulled the blankets back up to his chin.

"Eh, seriously?" Naruto blurted without thinking, caught completely off guard, "Then what am I doing here?"

"You needed someone to care for you for a while." he replied vaguely, but Naruto caught on.

"But why would you want to take care of me?" Naruto asked, tilting his head so that he could see the raven better. Sasuke seemed to have ignored his question, busying himself with a damp cloth which he placed on Naruto's head. Naruto tried again.

"I know Tsunade put you as my guard but…" he trailed off, not knowing how to continue. Sasuke just continued what he was doing. Naruto pouted at being ignored, but figured it was for the best since he wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer. Sasuke took the soiled bowl off of the edge of the bed and went to walk out of the room but stopped in the door way.

"Because I care." He said softly so as Naruto wouldn't hear, closing the door behind him.

Naruto stared at the door for a second, not quite believing what he had heard. A warm smile tugged at his lips, he felt relieved that the raven didn't hate him….. _Wait a minute,_ he thought to himself, _Didn't we almost…?_ He suddenly flashed back to the day he first met the raven, and all the days after, remembering all the times that they had gotten close.

He smacked his forehead, suddenly feeling very stupid. "Damn it Kyuubi, what did you do to me?" he whispered to himself, feeling once again like he had temporarily lost his masculinity.

"Well that should be obvious." A sarcastic voice replied, scaring the living daylights out of him.

"Jesus Kyuubi! Quit doing that." Naruto said, clutching his now fluttering heart. Kyuubi merely snorted and flicked a few of his tails, grabbing the remote off of the nightstand next to the bed and began flipping through the channels. Naruto's brow twitched. He snatched the remote and shut the T.V. off.

"What the hell have you done to me?" Naruto demanded, throwing the remote back onto the nightstand.

"I'm just finishing what I started." Kyuubi replied vaguely, staring at the T.V. screen as if it was still turned on.

"What are you talking about? What did you start?" Naruto persisted, becoming more and more irritated by the second.

"Do you recall how you attained those scars across your face?" Kyuubi said, not moving from his spot on the edge of the bed. Naruto nodded, thoroughly confused by the random comment. "And do you recall the fox that gave them to you?" Kyuubi turned and faced Naruto, his red eyes examining him. Naruto scrunched up his face in concentration, going back to that fateful day twelve years ago.

"I don't really remember much, it went by so fast." He said, closing his eyes, "But I did see that his tale was orange and had…" Naruto trailed off, snapping his eyes open and looked straight at Kyuubi, who's tales, Naruto now realized, were the exact shape and color of the fox from the accident. "That was you?" Naruto said accusingly, feeling hurt that the fox would do something like that.

"Yes kit, it was me." Kyuubi replied calmly, his gaze unwavering.

"But how? The fox had only one tail!" Naruto demanded, subconsciously brushing his fingers against the markings left on his face. Kyuubi barked a laugh.

"When you're as powerful as I am, it's not hard to change the form of your body." He explained, smirking. Naruto bowed his head, not moving. Kyuubi tilted his head but waited for the angry rant that he knew was coming.

"Why did you do it?" Naruto murmured his voice no louder than a whisper. Kyuubi raised his eyebrow at his volume level, but answered anyway.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you." Kyuubi said secretively.

"What?! What do you mean you can't tell me, you stupid fox?!" Naruto hollered, glaring daggers at the powerful creature. Kyuubi seemed unaffected.

"You'll find out soon enough kit." Kyuubi said calmly. Before Naruto could yell at the fox however, both heard footsteps down the hall. Kyuubi smirked at the door, and winked back at the blonde before disappearing. Sasuke walked in a second later.

"Dobe, what are you shouting about?" he queried, frowning slightly. Naruto turned bright red and fumbled for a feasible excuse.

"Um, er…. The bathroom! I have to go to the bathroom!" Naruto stuttered, wincing at how lame it sounded. Sasuke raised an eyebrow but didn't question him, to Naruto's relief. He came over to the bed and lifted Naruto up bridal style, completely ignoring the blonde's protests.

"Sasuke! Put me down! I can walk on my own!" Naruto hollered, completely forgetting the fact that his injury prevented him from doing just that.

Sasuke merely snorted and continued into the attached bathroom. Sasuke gently set him down; making sure that his good leg was the one holding his weight, then helped him over to the toilet. Sasuke paused, unsure what to do, "Do you need me to-"

"Nope, no, I can stand on my own, thanks." Naruto answered a little too quickly, his cheeks heating up at the thought of what Sasuke was asking. Sasuke shrugged and walked out.

"I'll be right outside if you need anything." He said, and quickly shut the door behind him. Naruto slapped a hand on his face, utterly embarrassed. _Damn you Kyuubi_ , he cursed in his mind, _what have you done? _

He growled again, and was about to pull down his pants to do his business when he felt the nausea wave from earlier hit him again, full force. He hurriedly bent over the toilet bowl and hurled, his eyes watering as the acid passed through his sore throat. He heard the door swing open and Sasuke was at his side, rubbing soothing circles on his back.

After what seemed like forever, he finished emptying his stomach and sat up, groaning at the pain that had set in his abdomen. Sasuke wiped his mouth clean and gave him a cup full of mouth wash to get rid of the taste, which Naruto took gratefully. Finished, Naruto leaned back against the wall, utterly exhausted. Sasuke felt his forehead, and found that his temperature had spiked again. He quickly stripped Naruto down to his boxers and turned on the water in the tub.

"What are you doing?" Naruto protested weakly, trying to push Sasuke away but failing miserably.

"Dobe, we have to cool your body down, and your wound needs to be cleaned." Sasuke murmured, lifting the boy up as he spoke. He set Naruto in the tub and was about to get to work when he paused.

"What is it 'Suke?" Naruto drawled, his words slurring together.

"Have you always had that tattoo?" he answered with a question of his own. Naruto quirked an eyebrow and looked down at his stomach, which now had a huge marking spiraling around his navel. His eyes widened, startled to see the integrate patterns. Sasuke tentatively reached a hand out to touch it. When his hand brushed one of the markings, it began to glow a bright yellowish orange, startling them both. It glowed for a second then disappeared, leaving behind no trace that it was ever there.

They stared at each other for a moment, not knowing what to do next. Sasuke suddenly scooped Naruto out of the tub, pulling the plug before he stepped out of the bathroom.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Naruto asked as Sasuke hurriedly dried him off with a towel. Sasuke ignored him and made quick work of the boxers and replaced them with new ones, along with a t-shirt and pajama bottoms. He gently pushed Naruto back and tucked him in quickly.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Naruto yelled, the fatigue he felt moments ago long gone. Sasuke fluffed the pillows behind him so Naruto could sit up, once again not listening to him.

"Damn it Sasuke, I-" Naruto growled, but stopped when he felt a soft pair of lips on his cheek.

"I'm going to go and get Tsunade. I'll be right back, okay?" he said softly, waiting for the blond to respond. Naruto nodded, not knowing what to say. Sasuke brushed blond bangs out of his face and smiled softly, "We'll figure this out, I promise." He reassured, and left the room to call the famed doctor.

Naruto sat there dumb founded. First, Kyuubi comes, then he gets sick all over everything, then he suddenly gets this magically new tattoo thing on his stomach, then Sasuke kisses him? What next?

Apparently someone heard him because there was a dark chuckling that filled the room. Naruto growled when he realized who it was. Sure enough, the tricky old fox had reappeared, this time he was smaller than his usual size and was laying leisurely on the dresser

"You really have it bad for this one, don't you?" Kyuubi inquired slyly, his tails flicking lazily as he spoke.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Naruto said, playing dumb. Unfortunately the coloring on his cheeks gave him away. Kyuubi chuckled again.

"No use denying it kit, the answer is all over your face." Kyuubi teased, hopping onto the bed to lay next to the blond, "Though I don't appreciate his passed actions," he gave a big yawn and snuggled into the bed, curling his body next to the blondes thigh, "I think he will make a fine mate for you." He said, and promptly fell asleep.

Naruto blanched at the word 'mate'. _Me, with that bastard? Pffft yeah right._ He thought to himself, not understanding why the statement made him sad. Shrugging it off as nothing, he snuggled back into the sheets and soon fell asleep as well, the day's events finally taking its toll.

Sasuke reentered the room, this time with a worried looking Tsunade and Shizune in tow. They stopped when they saw what was inside. Naruto lay sleeping peacefully, his arm wrapped loosely around an orange tuft of fur. Curious, Tsunade crept closer and found that the tuft of fur was actually the nine-tailed fox named Kyuubi, in what seemed to be his chibi form. The three looked at each other, relieved that the fox meant no harm to the blond. They quietly crept out of the room, trying not to wake the pair. Sasuke gave the blond one last look before closing the door quietly behind him.


	8. Prophecies and Comforts

**Author's Notes: Yeah... This chapter is still super short... Sorry 'bout it! Anyways, let me know what you think. ^_^**

* * *

"So it's true." Shizune whispered, finally breaking the silence that had befallen them in Sasuke's kitchen. Tsunade nodded gravely.

"Unfortunately, yes. The real question here is why?" She wondered aloud, taking the cup of tea from Sasuke with a mutter of thank you. Sasuke nodded back and set the pot in between them. Kakashi stood off to the side, for once not reading his little book.

"What do you know about the nine-tailed fox?" Sasuke questioned, getting straight to the point. Tsunade sighed and looked at both of them, their eyes filled with concern for their friend and curiosity. "I only know the history behind the legend, but not his temperament."

Sasuke growled, but Shizune quickly shushed him and indicated for Tsunade to continue, "A long, long time ago, demonic creatures such as Kyuubi trudged through the boundaries between the realm of Earth and Wonderland, their forms often resembling the common animals that you see when you cross the borders into the other realm. However, when they come back to Wonderland, they regain their multiple tails. Throughout history there have been stories about these creatures, and how they either help humanity, or destroy everything in their path." Shizune gasped softly, while Sasuke and Kakashi merely scowled but remained silent.

"Now as far as Kyuubi goes, I haven't found anything about him and what he's done in the past. What I do know is that he often causes mischief. Nothing serious or dangerous," she added quickly, seeing the fury behind Sasuke's dark irises, "but he has caused minor things such as fires, floods, mudslides-"

"You call that minor?" Sasuke growled, his hands balling up into fists. Tsunade didn't even flinch.

"Yes, because every time something lit on fire or flooded there were no people around that could've been hurt." She replied calmly, her gaze steady. Sasuke growled again but said nothing and stood up straight.

"What exactly does the prophecy entail?" he inquired, his voice carefully cool and stoic. Tsunade sighed but once again squinted at the scroll in front, this time reading the old scripture aloud.

"The prophecy states 'When one realm falls to war, the other will come to its aid, without ever having knowledge. Eyes as blue as the sea and hair as radiant as the sun, the chosen one shall bare a burden that no man has ever been forced to bare and shall obtain immense, but temporary power from an unexpected source." She finished with a flourish, looking back to the raven to gage his response.

"Temporary power…. Do you think that's what Kyuubi did to Naruto?" Shizune asked, her brows furrowing with concern. Tsunade sighed.

"I don't know what that fox wants with Naruto, but for now we just have to wait-"

"And what exactly will that do for Naruto?" Sasuke spat, slamming his hands onto the table, "For all we know he could-"

"He could be dying, yes, I am aware." Tsunade replied calmly. Sasuke's nostrils flared with anger. "However, as we all saw moments ago, so far it doesn't appear that the fox means the boy any harm."

"But-"

"Even so, I think that it's in his best interests if we keep him here. No one is to speak to him about this for any reason, understood?" the others nodded in confirmation, though Sasuke was not happy about it,

"Good. Call me if theirs anymore trouble." She said, and picked up the prophecy scroll along with the drawing Sasuke had made of the new marking on Naruto's stomach. Sasuke nodded in their direction and they soon left. Sasuke sighed in relief as he heard the door click, and restarted on the food that he had been making for Naruto and himself.

He was chopping up some vegetables for some homemade soup when he heard a loud bang coming from upstairs, making him cut himself. Cursing at his negligence, he quickly wrapped up his finger and bolted up the stairs, taking two at a time.

He walked in to the bedroom to find Naruto on the floor, crying and writhing in sheer terror, his eyes squeezed shut. Sasuke ran over to him and without thinking he pulled the other boy into his lap. He wrapped his arms around the blonde and rubbed his back soothingly, trying to calm him down.

"No, pl-please..." Naruto whimpered, shivering in fear.

_He's having a nightmare_ Sasuke realized. He shook the boy gently, "Naruto, wake up, Naruto." He whispered, shaking his shoulder. Naruto suddenly burst into tears.

"No, please! Don't hurt him." He cried, absolutely sobbing now, "Please! I'll do anything, just please don't hurt-!" Sasuke felt panic bubble inside. _Not helping _he growled within his mind, squelching the feeling as soon as it appeared. Naruto choked a sob, and began thrashing, managing to smack Sasuke on the nose. Sasuke growled a bit at that, but otherwise ignored it.

"Dobe, wake up." He prodded, shaking him again. Naruto kept squirming in his arms, fighting desperately against whatever was attacking him.

"Let me go!" Naruto yelled, fighting with all his might. Luckily for Sasuke most of that might was currently dormant under the spell that was slumber.

"Naruto stop! It's me, you're not in danger. Just wake up." Sasuke pleaded, beginning to feel really worried for his blo- Wait….

_Did I just call him mine?_ Sasuke thought to himself, but then snapped out of it quickly. _This is not the time for that sort of thing_ he chided himself, and returned to his task of waking the poor blond.

"Please, I'll do anything you want just- no, Sasuke!" Naruto cried desperately. He stopped struggling after a few minutes and just sat their trembling, a new wave of tears falling down his face. Sasuke let the boy go in surprise; he didn't expect his name to be slipping through Naruto's lips, especially when it sounded so desperate.

"Sasuke." He whispered, his voice breaking with held back emotions. Sasuke began to really worry then, and immediately moved to kneel in front of the boy and placed both hands on the blonde's face.

"Naruto, it's me, Sasuke. Whatever you are seeing is not real, it's just a dream, open your eyes." He murmured, whipping the stray tears with his thumbs. As if he heard the raven's words, Naruto's eye lids shot open, revealing terrified blue orbs.

"Sasuke?" Naruto whispered, almost desperately.

Sasuke nodded and replied with a simple "Hn."

To Sasuke's surprise, Naruto broke out into a relieved smile, and nearly knocked him over with the force of his hug.

"Oh God Sasuke! I thought it was real for a while, I thought that someone had taken you a-and- I-Oh God!" Naruto stammered, burying his face into the raven's chest. Sasuke froze for a minute at the contact, but he soon relaxed and found himself hugging the blonde just as tightly.

"It's okay it was only a dream." He whispered, kissing the top of his head. Naruto nodded, though it was obvious he was still shaken by the experience.

Naruto stayed quiet, listening to the raven's heartbeat for a moment to compose himself. _Damn, _He thought to himself,_ that was way too real for my tastes_. As if reading his thoughts, Sasuke brushed his hands through Naruto's hair in a comforting manner.

"I can assure you dobe, I'm very much alive." He murmured into golden locks. Naruto went to look up at the raven, but stopped when he realized how close the other boys face was to his. He turned away, not wanting the other to see his flushed face.

Smiling softly, Sasuke lifted the blonde's chin and stared into those deep blue eyes. Naruto blinked, surprised to see Sasuke smiling. He tilted his head cutely, his eyes staring at the raven in silent question.

Sasuke's smile widened, and without hesitation he leaned down to capture the lips he had been craving for quite a while now.

Naruto froze in shock, not having expected that in his still fogged up mind. After a few minutes he pressed back, his hands gripping gently on the raven's neck for more leverage. Sasuke smirked and pulled the blond into his lap by his waist. Naruto hissed when his leg was his leg was jarred, to which Sasuke rubbed his back as an apology.

Sasuke eventually pulled away, chuckling when Naruto unconsciously followed his lips.

"Dobe." He murmured fondly, a soft smile playing at the corners of his lips.

"Shut up teme." Naruto said just as softly, smiling right back. Sasuke's eyes soften at that, and he reached down to steal another kiss from the- _his_ blonde.

Kyuubi chuckled to himself from his place under the bed, "All according to plan." He said, barely above a whisper, "All according to plan."


	9. Reminiscing Over A New Discovery

**Author's Notes: Edited and better than ever! Haha anyways, let me know what you think! :)**

* * *

Naruto stirred in his sleep, and buried his face into the warmth of his pillow; His warm, soft, breathing pillow. Wait a minute….

The blonde peeked his eyes open, blushing when he realized exactly who it was he was currently using as a pillow. Glancing out the window, he realized that the sun hadn't even risen yet, so he settled back down next to Sasuke, resting his head on his chest. Memories of last night came sluggishly back, and Naruto couldn't help the content sigh that escaped through his lips.

Ever since that kiss a couple of weeks ago, Sasuke and the blonde have been attached to the hip; Naruto still stayed with the Uchiha, but now it was by choice rather than necessity. He still didn't quite understand why he felt so natural around the raven but he usually pushed those thoughts aside in favor of spending time with Sasuke.

Tsunade had given him the all clear a week ago, but Naruto just couldn't bring himself to leave Sasuke's house. Not that the raven would have let him if he tried mind you

Naruto smiled as last night's events came back to him, clear as a bell.

Since his leg was completely healed now thanks to Tsunade, Sasuke decided that it was high time for him to learn how to fight properly (though when he would ever really use the training he didn't know). He was currently lazing around in his bedroom, exhausted from a long day of combat training. He swore Sasuke was enjoying his struggles, but he knew that he was just trying to be helpful. Lucky for him, the raven relented to his complaints and let him rest for the rest of the day.

"So kit, how goes it with lover boy?" a voice said from the top of the dresser. Naruto didn't even flinch. Even if he didn't want to admit it, Kyuubi had grown fond of the blonde, so he visited often, hence the reason why Naruto wasn't fazed by his sudden entrance.

"Um, fine I guess." _Though I still haven't figured out why I feel so strongly about him already _he finished in his head_._

"It's simple really. You two have met before all of this." Kyuubi replied as if reading his thoughts. Naruto glared at the fox.

"Will you quit with the mind reading? It gives me the cree-"Naruto paused, his brain finally processing Kyuubi's words. "Wait, I've been here before? When? And why can't I remember?"

"You can't remember because I took most of your memories away." He replied simply, hopping onto the bed to face the blonde.

"But why? What could have happened that would make you do that." Kyuubi sighed, scooting himself closer

"You remember how you got those scars on your cheeks?" he began, staring at Naruto intently.

"Well yes, you put them there when I was younger." Naruto replied hesitantly, not really knowing where the fox was going with this.

"Well, the way you remember it isn't exactly how it happened."

"What do you mean?" Naruto tilted his head, waiting for an answer. Kyuubi sighed again, deciding to not beat around the bush.

"When you were six, you stumbled into this world, similar to how you did a month ago." He began, curling up next to the blonde. Naruto scratched behind his ears, silently urging him to continue. "Only at this time you were somehow teleported to this world by someone here. I secretly lead you over to the Uchiha district. At the time, Sasuke's parents were still alive, so when they found you aimlessly wandering around they took you to their house without question."

"So that's why Sasuke seems so familiar." Naruto mused, his hand pausing on the fox's soft fur. Kyuubi nudged his hand with his nose for attention, which Naruto obliged and scratched his scruff again.

"Yes. You two were quite the pair. You two became friends instantly, and were practically attached at the hip, where one went the other followed." Naruto blushed, but was secretly grateful that there was an explanation as to why he cared so deeply for Sasuke so quickly. "This went on for two years."

"Wait, hold on a minute. Two years? How is that possible? My parents said I was only gone for about a half an hour!"

"Time runs differently here. If you are from the originator realm, you pass through a time barrier." Naruto stared at him blankly, obviously not comprehending the idea. Kyuubi sighed and continued. "The time barrier slows earth's time to a crawl, making two years here seem like a half an hour there."

"Ooh, so it's like a time bubble?" Kyuubi rolled his eyes, but chose to ignore Naruto's ignorance and merely nodded in response."But two years here? Why did you keep me here? I'm really confused..." Naruto trailed off, having difficulties with processing the new information. Kyuubi gave him a sympathetic look.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you all of the details just yet, but what I can tell you is that the wounds I inflicted on you had an actual purpose."

"Oh yeah? And what was it? To hurt me?" Naruto snorted, rolling his eyes. Kyuubi growled in warning.

"No brat, I did it to slowly introduce you to my powers." _Um…. What?_

"What the hell do you mean introducing me to your powers?" Naruto demanded rudely, but Kyuubi chose to ignore him and continue.

"The scars on your cheeks represents my kind, the demon foxes. The whiskers awaken your spirit animal, which thankfully is a fox. The mark on your stomach, however, is a seal." He explained. Naruto subconsciously rubbed his stomach, remembering the random throws of pain it would send him into.

"But what is it sealing exactly?" He asked in spite of himself

"It's slowly strengthening your souls elemental and fox demon powers. That's why it pulsates from time, though I hadn't anticipated the pain that would follow the pulsations…." He trailed off, pawing Naruto's stomach with a guilty look on his face. Naruto scooped the chibi Kyuubi and nuzzled his fur.

"I can handle it, so don't worry." Naruto reassured softly, "So. What kind of powers are we talking about here? Will I be able to fly?" Naruto asked enthusiastically, making Kyuubi laugh.

"No kit, you're a fox spirit, not a bird spirit." Naruto pouted slightly.

"Damn! Oh well…. So what will I have then?"

"Well, to be honest I'm not entirely sure what all of your powers will turn out to be." Kyuubi admitted, looking rather sheepish.

"What? You did this to me without actually knowing what would happen?" Naruto squawked, glaring daggers at the fox.

"Calm down kit, it's not like that." Kyuubi chided, settling back into Naruto's lap. "I know some of the general powers you will get, but as far as your specialty powers I won't know until they begin to develop."

"Oh… So what are specialty powers?"

"It varies from person to person, but usually they will involve the elements. For example, my specialty is fire."

"Cool! So I'll be able to control fire?" Naruto smiled widely, excitement bubbling in his belly.

"Not necessarily. You see,it's different for every person. Some have the power over fire, some use the water, some use the earth, and some utilize the wind. However, there are a rare few who can control light energy, though no one has seen such a person in many, many years. It was said that people like that had their abilities because they had the strength of will."

"What does that mean?"

"Exactly as I said it was kit." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"So what other powers could I get?" Kyuubi looked thoughtful for a moment

"Well, like with any animal spirit you will have rapid healing powers, along with the ability to heal others, though usually that works best if you are a water spirit. Your brute strength will increase, along with your speed, though you need to train yourself in both areas in order to harness your strength."

"Anything else I should be on the lookout for?" Naruto joked.

"Nope! Nothing at all!" Kyuubi answered with a Cheshire cat grin. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Kyuubi, what are you hiding?" Naruto prodded none too gently, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Well, you may experience random bouts of heat."

"What do you mean by heat?" Naruto asked warily. Kyuubi's grin turned into a smirk.

"You'll get an itch downstairs, you'll be horny as hell, you'll spread your legs for just about anyone. Take your pick." Naruto's face burned with a full on blush.

"What the fuck?!" Naruto hollered at the top of his lungs. Sasuke came bursting into his room, sword at the ready.

"What happened?" Sasuke demanded, searching the room for any possible threat. It was then that he noticed the blonde's flushed state. "Hey, are you feeling okay?"

Naruto's blush worsened and he turned away, cursing the damned fox who had conveniently disappeared. "I-I'm fine."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow but chose not to comment. He sheathed his sword and scowled. "Could you not shout like that? It sounded like you were in trouble."

"Sorry." Naruto mumbled, still not making eye contact. Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at the behavior and sat on the bed.

"What's eating you dobe?" he asked, placing his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Kyuubi told me some things." Naruto replied cryptically, thankful that his flush was finally starting to fade.

"What kind of things?"

Naruto hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should tell him everything, (though of course he would never, _ever_ mention the heat thing!). "He told me that he's passing down some of his powers to me, and he… Awakened my spirit animal? I think that's the way he put it…"

Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise, but soon relaxed and guided Naruto to sit in his lap. _Well, I guess now we know what the prophecy meant_ Sasuke mused in his mind, subconsciously massaging the blonde's head. Naruto sighed contently and rested his head on Sasuke's shoulder. "I always knew you were special."

Naruto blushed, but his embarrassment was quickly brushed aside. "Oh yeah! Kyuubi told me that I was here before, and we used to live together." He said, lifting his head up to face the raven.

"Did he now?" Sasuke said, amusement dancing across his charcoal eyes.

"Yup! It's kind of a relief to know why I fe-." Naruto stopped, realizing his mistake.

"Feel what Naruto?" Sasuke prodded, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. Naruto blushed again, (Damn his mother for giving him her red-head blushing tendencies!).

"Nothing, never mind. So what's for dinner? I'm starved!" Naruto said quickly, trying to change the subject, but Sasuke was having none of that.

"Naruto, what are your feelings towards me? Do you love me?" he teased, nuzzling Naruto's neck with his nose.

Naruto gapped at him, dumbfounded. "What? It's way too soon to be saying that teme!"

"Oh? That never stopped you before." Sasuke accused lightly.

"I told you I loved you before? When?" he asked, surprisingly more curious then embarrassed.

"It was about six months after you came to live with us. We were playing outside when out of the blue you just said it. After that you couldn't stop saying it." Sasuke explained, his face holding a wistful expression.

"Oh." Naruto replied lamely, not really knowing how to respond. Sasuke smiled playfully.

"You know," he began, kissing under his chin, "If you said it to me now, I would probably say it back."

Naruto pulled away slightly to look at Sasuke, "You would?"

"Yes I would. But, since you don't feel up to it I guess I'll keep my feelings to myself…." He trailed off on purpose, eyeing the blonde to gage his reaction.

"Are you saying you love me?" Naruto asked, hating how timid he sounded.

"Maybe, maybe not. I guess you'll have to figure it out for yourself." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"You really are a cheeky bastard, you know that?" he informed with a scowl, making Sasuke laugh.

"But that's what you love about me." Sasuke replied easily.

Naruto blushed and looked away. "Shut up." Sasuke smiled good-naturedly, then hoisted Naruto over his shoulder.

"What the hell? Put me down!" Naruto demanded, laughing as Sasuke walked out of the room.

"No, I don't think I will." He replied smacking Naruto's ass.

"You pervert!" Naruto hollered, hitting Sasuke's back playfully. Sasuke laughed with him, moving away from the kitchen in favor of the living room, dropping the still laughing blond on the couch.

"Now what should I do with you?" Sasuke wondered aloud, sitting himself very close to the blond. "Beat, maim, torture? Yes, I think torture would be splendid."

Naruto giggled, "Oh please, anything but that! Please!"

"Too late, it's decided" and with that he began mercilessly tickling the blonde. Naruto squirmed this way and that in an attempt to escape the evil fingers of the Uchiha. Their laughter filled the entire lonely house, making it feel like a home again.

Naruto was brought out of his memory with a searing pain shooting through his body. He curled his body as tight as he could, trying to stifle the groan that threatened to spill from his lips so as not to wake up Sasuke.

A new wave hit him, this one harsher than the last. He couldn't stop the pained moan from coming out. Sasuke frowned and opened his eyes slowly.

"Naruto? What's going on?" he asked groggily, squinting in the dark. Naruto's stomach throbbed painfully, choking off any response he could have given. Wide awake now Sasuke placed Naruto's head into his lap, massaging his back in an attempt to comfort him. Naruto's entire body was trembling and his skin broke out into a cold sweat.

"Naruto, Naruto can you hear me?" Naruto gave a slow nod, unable to speak. "Naruto, you need to try to calm yourself down okay? You need to try and relax your muscles."

"Sasuke." Naruto whined pitifully. "I don't think I can."

"Kit, try to uncurl yourself for a minute. I need to get to your stomach." A voice said from his other side.

"Kyuubi? When did you get here?" Naruto slurred, the pain starting to go to his head.

"Just do as he says dobe." Sasuke ordered, though the worry in his voice sapped away any force in his tone.

"Not- ugh- a dobe." Naruto panted out, but he complied. Sasuke took his hands in his, letting Naruto squeeze as tight as he needed to.

Kyuubi quickly set to work, nudging Naruto's night shirt up with his nose. Wincing at the heat coming off his kit's body, but he ignored the burning sensation on his nose to find what he was looking for. He licked the glowing seal, slowly sending soothing chakra through his tongue and into Naruto's stomach. Slowly but surely Naruto's pain ebbed down to a dull ache. He relaxed against Sasuke, his breathing still harsh.

"How are you feeling kit?" Kyuubi asked, guilt dulling his crimson eyes.

"B-better. Tha-anks." Naruto wheezed, completely worn out.

"Go ahead and sleep Naru." Sasuke murmured, petting his damp spikes.

"Mmkay. Stay with me?" Naruto asked, his voice already lethargic with sleep.

"Of course." He replied, brushing his fingers across Naruto's still flushed cheek. Naruto smiled weakly, flopping his head down and immediately fell into a deep slumber. Sasuke sighed in relief.

"Thanks for helping Kyuubi." Sasuke said, grateful that this time around Naruto didn't have to suffer for too long.

"It's the least I could do. After all, I'm the cause of all of this." Kyuubi replied, his ears pressed to his skull in shame. Sasuke felt awkward, not really knowing what to say to that. Kyuubi hopped onto the windowsill, about to disappear into the night when he felt a gentle tug on one of his tails.

"Could you stay for the night? In case it comes back?" Sasuke whispered, looking up with pleading eyes. As much as it frustrated him to admit, he was useless when Naruto had these attacks, and if Kyuubi had the ability to help, he wanted the fox around his blond as much as possible.

Kyuubi hesitated, not really sure how to respond. "Alright." He replied, staring at the raven curiously before he plopped back down on the bed, settling himself just above Naruto's head. Sasuke sighed in relief, immensely grateful towards the fox. He scratched behind Kyuubi's ear in thanks, receiving a light purr in return.

Kyuubi promptly fell asleep, but Sasuke stayed up, gazing at Naruto. Seeing the dark bags under his eyes and seeing him in pain more and more often lately, Sasuke felt that he just had to do something for Naruto, though what he didn't know.

Sasuke sighed, deciding it would be better to think up a plan after he slept. Lying down, he took Naruto in his arms. Immediately Naruto turned to snuggle his face into his chest, sighing contently. Sasuke gave a soft smile, kissing the top of Naruto's head before he too fell into a deep slumber.


End file.
